Pure Innocent Destruction - SYOT
by evilpencilbox
Summary: It's the 250th Annual Hunger Games. What will the 10th Quarter Quell twist be? SYOT closed - readers welcome!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. Well, in this timeline, anyway. Assuming there are infinite dimensions with infinite combinations of events, I probably do in one of them. But not in this one.

A/N: So, this is my first SYOT. It might end up weird or silly at some points, because I'm not an experienced SYOT writer or anything. I'm looking forward to seeing your submissions. I love new characters. Even if they're totally cliched. Well, I guess it depends on the cliche. There are some I absolutely hate and some that are absolutely amazing.

Delphinia 'Delphie' Wash, the eleven-year-old daughter of President Lucretia Wash, stood on stage next to her mother. She got to announce the Games for the first time this year, as her older brother Cassius was in college. And it was a Quarter Quell, too! The tenth, to be exact.

She was wearing a really pretty dress with lots of pink and gold glitter. Delphie had just picked it out at the store a couple days ago. She even got to wear makeup! Usually her mother said she couldn't wear makeup until she was older.

"Isn't this fun!" said Lucretia.

"Yeah! I've been waiting to announce since I was really really little!" Delphie exclaimed.

"You're still little." her mother said.

"Not as little as I used to be!" Delphie replied.

"Well, I guess you're right about that. Now get ready, the cameras are going on in two minutes!" said Lucretia.

She was a bit nervous. What if she knocked over the box of cards? Or said something super embarrassing in front of the entire country? She'd be in so much trouble. She'd get her hovercraft privileges taken away for a month! She probably wouldn't do anything embarrassing, though. Delphie'd practiced in front of the mirror for months now! Not like she knew what the Quell was, but she could still practice not saying anything embarrassing.

Her mother started to do the speech about why the Hunger Games started. Basically, some idiots from the Districts decided they didn't like the Capitol. That's how Delphie knew they were idiots, because the Capitol was awesome! But anyways, they tried to do a rebellion and stuff, but it failed, because it was stupid. The Capitol had to punish them to make sure they wouldn't do something stupid like that again. So they started the Hunger Games. Delphie didn't really get how that was a punishment. Apparently, though, most of the Districts didn't like them.

Delphie's mother finished the speech, which included reciting all nine previous Quarter Quells. Delphie opened the box and drew the first card. She started to read.

"As a reminder to the Districts that even the most innocent-seeming acts can be destructive, tributes this year must be volunteers between nine and fifteen years old."

Delphie stopped reading. It was a good thing she only read the card and didn't make any embarrassing mistakes! Delphie's mother explained a little about how the Reapings would work: as soon as the Reaping started, the two volunteers would have five minutes to reach the stage. There would be no Reaping balls. Volunteers would choose themselves, not by any kind of vote as in the first Quarter Quell.

President Lucretia Wash POV:

Lucretia sat in her office the day after the Quell reading. She didn't particularly like the idea of having to kill children even younger than usual. She wasn't a Snow, after all. But it wasn't like it was her fault. For the past few years, violent, illegal, and rebellious behavior had been increasing among the youth of the Districts.

However, it wasn't the common reckless behavior often seen in sixteen to twenty year olds. These incidents were more often being caused by children barely old enough (or not) for the Games. They couldn't be allowed to think that they could get away with this kind of behavior just because they were young. If they were bad now, how would they act by the time they were eighteen or twenty-one?

This type of thing had to be nipped in the bud. Hence, the Quarter Quell twist. As for the volunteer part, well, their behavior was their choice. Therefore, their entrance into the Games will also be their choice. They wouldn't be innocent little children forced into the Games (like the 125th when only eleven-year-olds were Reaped). They would be choosing to enter, just like they chose to behave badly in the first place. And even if the kids who volunteered weren't the rebellious ones, it would be a warning to those who were.

Tribute Form:

Name:

Age (Remember, 9 to 15!):

Gender (if they are not cis m or f, also tell me which tribute slot they're in):

District (and backup):

Appearance (including height and weight):

Family (names, ages, and personalities):

Friends (same as family):

Personality (at least a paragraph):

Backstory (at least a paragraph):

Reason for volunteering (note: as no tributes were reaped, they can't volunteer 'for' somebody):

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Bloodbath? (whether they are a designated Bloodbath tribute, not whether they run to the Cornucopia):

Games Strategy:

Career? (whether they join the pack, not whether they have training):

Alliance?:

Interview Angle:

Interview Quote:

Estimated training score:

Why they should/shouldn't win:

Please PM tributes (don't review) and use the correct form!

Notes: The 74-75 rebellion never happened. Your favorite tribute not from 12 won the 74th games. The twist for the 3rd quell was something other than in the books. I would like 6-8 bloodbath tributes. You can submit up to 3, but if you submit 3, one must be a Bloodbath.

Districts:

1: Luxury District. Produces Careers almost every year (there have been exceptions). Rich district. 2nd most favored by Capitol. 30 Victors (9 living). Averages a Victor every 8 years.

2: Masonry and Military District. Produces Careers every year (there have been no exceptions, not even in the first few Games). Rich district. Most favored by Capitol. 40 Victors (12 living). Averages a Victor every 6 years.

3: Technology District. Not a Career District. Poor district. 3rd least favored by Capitol. 13 Victors (4 living). Averages a Victor every 19 years.

4: Fishing District. Produces Careers almost every year (there have been exceptions). Rich district. 3rd most favored by Capitol. 30 Victors (9 living).

Averages a Victor every 8 years.

5: Power District. Not a Career District. Upper-middle class district. 4th most favored by Capitol. 14 Victors (4 living). Averages a Victor every 8 years. Averages a Victor every 18 years.

6: Transportation District. Not a Career District. Middle class district. 5th most favored by Capitol. 15 Victors (5 living). Averages a Victor every 16 years.

7: Lumber District. Trainee District (tributes are often skilled but not part of the 'Career pack'). Lower-middle class district. 4th least favored by Capitol. 25 Victors (8 living). Averages a Victor every 9 years.

8: Textile District. Not a Career District. Poor district. 2nd least favored by Capitol. 13 Victors (3 living). Averages a Victor every 22 years.

9: Grain District. Not a Career District. Middle class district. 6th most favored by Capitol. 15 Victors (5 living). Averages a Victor every 16 years.

10: Livestock District. Not a Career District. Lower-middle class district. 5th least favored by Capitol. 16 Victors (5 living). Averages a Victor every 15 years.

11: Agriculture District. Trainee District (tributes are often skilled but not part of the 'Career pack'). Poor district. Least favored by Capitol. 25 Victors (8 living). Averages a Victor every 9 years.

12: Mining District. Not a Career District. Poor district. Often ignored by Capitol. 13 Victors (3 living). Averages a Victor every 22 years.


	2. District 9 Reapings

**Kip Racer, 15**

Kip woke up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The door to his room began to open, and his mom Jennifer barged into the room unannounced. "Kip! I've called you about five times already! Just how hard can a person sleep?" his mom shouted.

"What? Why do I need to get up?" Kip replied.

"This happens every year. You somehow always manage to forget Reaping Day! How do you forget Reaping Day?" she yelled. It was true, he'd always forgotten Reaping Day… before. This year, he made it a point to remember it and pretend not to, just to annoy his mom.

"Of course I didn't forget. I was kidding. I wanted to sleep in." Kip said. Kip's mom sighed.

"Well, make sure to wear something clean. You can't go out in public in the same pajamas you've been wearing all weekend." She closed the door and he threw on a shirt and some pants. He walked downstairs. His house was small and damaged in places, but it definitely wasn't the worst place in the district. He got his own bedroom, and they had running water. He sat down at their table. His dad Payton handed him a piece of bread with butter on it for breakfast. They didn't usually buy butter, so that was nice.

"Kip, did you hear?" his dad said.

"Hear what?" Kip replied.

"A lot of the eighteen year olds in the district are actually planning on celebrating tonight. I get that we have the day off from work, but it's not supposed to be fun." Payton answered.

"It makes sense. They get out of Reapings a year early." Kip commented.

"Still not very polite." muttered his dad. Kip shrugged and finished eating his breakfast. After Kip finished, his mom and dad and him walked to the Reapings. The atmosphere seemed strangely nervous on the walk to the Reaping Centre, as if even the air could tell it wasn't a good day today. Nobody was talking on the streets, little kids weren't out playing. Everyone was just walking in the same direction. Kip thought it was kind of unsettling.

Once they reached the Centre, Kip's parents walked towards the audience area, while Kip went to the check-in line. As he waited, the kid behind him nudged him. Kip turned around to see who it was. It was Gloriosa Dandelion, his rival since kindergarten. She'd always tell on him when he tried to do anything remotely fun, and he'd always tease her for being a tattletale. They had gotten into a huge fight last year (there was still a hole in their school's drywall), and since then, their parents hadn't let them within sight of each other. Until now. Gloriosa opened her mouth.

"I dare you to volunteer for the Games. I bet you'll die in the Bloodbath." she said. Kip had definitely not been planning to volunteer. But now that Gloriosa had dared him to? He absolutely, definitely, positively had to. He was up to the front of the line now. He stuck his hand out and felt a prick from the needle. He moved into the fifteen year old boys' section. The Reaping would start in ten minutes. And he was going to volunteer.

A small part of his mind told him that he didn't have to volunteer, that Gloriosa Dandelion didn't control him, and why was he listening to someone he hated anyway? But that part of his mind was very small compared to the part telling him he had to prove Gloriosa Dandelion wrong. Also, what kind of last name was Dandelion anyway?

The escort walked up onto the stage. There were no Reaping balls or little slips. The escort, Ambrose Reid, wore a huge, bright yellow hat and a neon green suit… or at least Kip thought it was a suit. Next to Ambrose were the Mayor and the Victors for District 9, including the two mentors. The mentors this year were Ardith Boyd and Lee Russell. The Mayor went through the whole annual speech about Dark Days and punishment and other boring stuff. Then, Ambrose asked for the male volunteer.

'Well, that's me.' Kip thought. He raised his hand. Ambrose asked for Kip to come to the stage, please. Kip walked up to the stage, trying to shake off the nagging feelings of nervousness. He needed to prove Gloriosa wrong. He said his name into a microphone.

"Kip Racer." he announced. 'Wow, microphones make things really loud' Kip thought.

**April Kaseem, 9**

April felt something on her back. She rolled over and opened her eyes. The sun was bright coming through her window. And the thing on her back? Just her big sister May's hand.

"Time to wake up, April." May whispered. June, April's little sister, was still asleep in her bed. There was an empty space next to June where May was. But August, April's big brother, wasn't next to her anymore! She wondered where he went.

"Where's August?" April asked.

"He's up already, sleepyhead! Get dressed, I need to wake up June." replied May. April climbed out of bed. Her gray kitten, Gray Kitty, ran up to her.

"Sorry, Gray Kitty, I have to get dressed now! I'll play with you after the Reapings." She changed into her one dress, which was a bit big on her because it used to be May's (May was tall like their mother and April was short like their father). April skipped down to get breakfast, nearly tripping over one of May's books. She giggled. May had so many books she had to leave some on the floor! April sat down at the table. A few minutes later, May and June came down. Right after that, August came over to the table with a pile of rolls. April took two and began to eat right away.

"Where's mommy?" June asked.

"Trying to explain to a customer that the bakery isn't open on Reaping Day." August replied. When April was almost done with her breakfast, her mom came in.

"Morning mommy! I love you! My kitties love you too! After the Reaping, can you help me with some math homework? I don't get fractions. They're weird!" April babbled at her mother.

"Hey honey. Love you too! Of course I'll help you with your math later. It's time to go now, though, so finish up that roll." her mom Andrea said. April stuffed the last of the roll into her mouth and raced to the front door.

She put on her shoes and cried out "I'm ready to go!"

"That's great, honey! Let me just get June!" April's mom came to the front door, along with her siblings. They started to walk to the Reaping Centre. The streets were really quiet today. April thought they needed some more noise.

"June, what did you learn in school last week?" April asked loudly.

"We learned how to carry in addition! You can add really big numbers that way! Do you know what 243 plus 568 is?" her little sister questioned. April started to think it over when May interrupted.

"It's 811."

"Wow, that was fast!" June said.

"Yeah, yeah, May's a genius. But guess what I can do?" August said. August picked June up and spun her around. June laughed.

"My turn, my turn!" April shouted.

"Okay, fine." August picked her up and spun her in a circle. April laughed out loud. This was fun! August placed her back on the ground.

"I don't suppose you'll do that with me?" asked May.

"May, you're like, almost as tall as me. So no, I won't spin you around like a little kid." August said. April wanted to tell August that she wasn't a little kid, but they had arrived at the Reaping Centre. Their mom and June headed off towards the audience section, while the three older kids went to wait in line.

April remembered what the older girls had told her to do. "When Ambrose asks for girl volunteers, raise your hand and put it down as fast as you can. We'll do it too. It'll be fun, like 'Reaping Chicken'.". April got her hand pricked by the annoying needle thingy at the entrance, and walked over to the other nine year olds. A good distance away, she saw the older girls. They smiled at her.

Ambrose walked on to the stage. He asked for boy volunteers and an older boy named Kip Racer went up. She didn't know him.

Then, he says "May I now have our female volunteer?" April quickly put her hand up and brings it down while looking at the older girls. She noticed they didn't raise their hands. That was cheating!

Then, she hears a loud voice. "Can the girl who raised her hand please come to the stage?" She looks back to the stage to see Ambrose pointing directly at her. Oh, no. April walked up to the stage. She had to say her name into a microphone which made it sound really loud. Then she had to shake hands with the bigger boy. April was nervous, but she reminded herself that she was already going into the Games. It couldn't get any worse, could it?

**Kip Racer, 15**

Kip was led by Peacekeepers into a room of the Justice Building. A couple minutes later, his parents rushed in.

"Why did you volunteer? You had no reason to! You're going to die! Why were you so stupid?" his mom yelled.

"Gloriosa dared me to." Kip said.

"You're practically killing yourself because a girl you don't even like told you to? That's not okay!" shouted his dad.

"I'm not going to die. She said I was. I'm going to prove her wrong." Kip said.

"You better hope you don't die or else I'll kill you!" yelled Jennifer.

"Mom, you can't kill me if I'm dead. But really, I won't die." Kip replied. Kip didn't think he would die. He couldn't. He would prove that idiot Gloriosa Dandelion wrong once and for all. His parents sighed and hugged him. He hugged them back.

His friend John had been standing at the back of the room. As soon as Kip's parents let go, John walked over.

"Well, I really hope you don't end up dying. If you die, I won't have anyone to blame stuff I did on to my parents." Kip laughed. John gave Kip a quick hug.

"Again, really hope you don't die." John repeated. As the Peacekeepers yelled that their time was up, and his visitors left the room, Kip said "See you in a few weeks!"

**April Kaseem, 9**

April followed some Peacekeepers into a pretty room in the Justice Building. There was a painting of a cat on the wall. It was a very cute painting. All of a sudden, her family and friends came running in. Her mother and siblings ran up to her first. They crowded around her, all yelling.

"One at a time, guys!" April said. They quieted down a bit.

"Honey, why'd you volunteer?" her mom asked.

"I didn't think I'd actually have to go. These two older girls told me to put my hand up and bring it down as fast as I could. They said they'd do it too, like 'Reaping Chicken'. But they didn't do it, and now I have to go! I really want to call those girls names, but that wouldn't be nice." said April.

"You can call those girls as many names as you want. They got you sent into the Games!" said May.

"I know I could, but I don't like to do things that aren't nice. You know that, May." April replied.

"April, I know you can come back! You're an awesome big sister!" said June. April smiled and patted June's hair.

"Be careful, April. I'd really like to see you again after this. And not on the TV." said August. April and her family all had a big group hug. They then let go and made way for her friends.

Melina came over first. "April, please come back! If you don't, I'll be very sad. You don't want me to be sad, do you?" she said.

"Of course not! I'll try as hard as I can to come back, Melina." April replied.

Fern came over next. "Well, um, I love you, and please don't die that would be horrible!" Fern said.

"I love you too! And I promise I will try my best not to die." April answered.

Maya was last. "April, I don't want you to die, but I know the math. But you can still take something from here with you." Maya said. Maya pulled a yellow and blue braided string bracelet off her wrist.

"Our friendship bracelet from kindergarten! You still have yours! Black Kitty ate mine. That was an oddly colored hairball." April took the bracelet from Maya and put it on her wrist. The Peacekeepers called that her time was up. Before her family and friends could leave the room, April reminded them about something. "Take care of my kitties!"

**A/N: **Thanks to Annabeth Pie for Kip and Professor R.J Lupin1 for April!

What do you think of these two?


	3. District 4 Reapings

**Max Jaxon, 11**

Max woke up. His body hurt from sleeping on the hard basement floor all night. He slowly sat up and walked over to the small linen closet. He grabbed one of his few pairs of clothes and got dressed. Max was putting his socks on when his adoptive 'mother', Jennifer, yelled down to him.

"Max, where are you? You're going to make us late for the Reapings!" Max climbed up the stairs and tried to open his door. It was still locked from last night.

"I can't go to the Reapings if you don't let me out of my room!" Max called. The doorknob turned and the door opened. It was one of his 'sisters', Kris, who backed away from him as soon as he walked out of his room.

"Get me a hairtie, idiot." Kris said. Max quickly ran to the bathroom and grabbed a hairtie and ran back to Kris. She'd be mad if he took any longer than he had to. He handed her the hairtie. She took it and put her hair into a ponytail.

"Why are you still standing there? Get away from me!" she yelled. Max rushed out of the room and nearly ran into his other 'sister', Kay Kay.

"Watch your step. Honestly." Kay Kay shoved him a bit and Max tripped, falling onto the floor. Max pushed himself back up and went to find something to eat.

Before he could, however, his 'mother' called "Girls! Max! Time to go!" Max headed towards the front door. Once Kay Kay and Kris were ready to leave, they began walking towards the Reapings. Kay Kay and Kris were wondering who would volunteer this year. They thought the girl was Jane or Jade or something like that, and the boy was Donnigan Wilson. That was who he had to beat to volunteering. Donnigan Wilson. He didn't know anyone with that name, which made sense, since neither him nor his 'sisters' went to the Academy.

Max trailed behind his mother and sisters. If he walked with them and accidentally touched one, they'd yell at him. So he always walked just a few feet behind. A little later, they arrived at the Reaping Centre. His 'mother' walked off towards the audience area. Kris, Kay Kay, and Max all got in line to check in. Kris and Kay Kay had been complaining earlier that week about having to get their blood checked. They thought it was really irritating. Max didn't really know why they had to take his blood, either. There was probably some reason, though. He just didn't know it. After all, he was only 11. Kris and Kay Kay had headed off to the 13 year old girls section, and Max was now at the front of the line. The Peacekeeper poked his arm with a needle and he moved through to stand with the other 11 year old boys.

They still had another 5 minutes until the escort, Tullia Todd, came on stage. Max stood quietly in the group of boys. He looked over at the older boys. He wondered which one was supposed to volunteer this year. He decided it didn't matter, they were 15 at the most, so had three more years left. For a second, Max contemplated not volunteering and just staying at home. Max couldn't do that. He couldn't stay here. If he volunteered, he'd never have to live with Jennifer and Kris and Kay Kay again. If he died, he'd be dead. He wouldn't have to live anywhere. And if he somehow won, he'd get to move to his own house in the Victor's Village, and he wouldn't have to share it with anyone.

Tullia walked on to the stage. She was standing with the Mayor and the nine living Victors of District 4. The two Victors mentoring this year were Dylan Harbor and Margery Bay. The Mayor did the speech about the rebellion and Hunger Games and things. Then, Tullia took the microphone.

"May I please have a male volunteer?" she asked. Max threw up his hand as quickly as possible. He saw one other hand go up directly after his, in the fifteen-year old section.

"It looks like the boy in the front volunteered first! Come on up!" Tullia said. Max walked up to the stage. He announced his name to the audience and waited for the girl volunteer.

**Jade Rivers, 15**

Jade woke up and got out of bed. She walked over to her closet and grabbed her green Reaping dress. She was going to volunteer today. She had scored the highest out of the female Academy students at the training tests. Plus, her mom was a Victor. Everyone liked a legacy kid.

Jade walked downstairs. Her dad Jordan was serving breakfast. He'd made waffles! Jade loved waffles! She started eating.

"Morning, Jade!" her dad said.

"Hey dad." Jade replied.

"You ready to go today?" her dad asked.

"Yep! I have my lucky hair clip and everything!" Her 'lucky hair clip' was from second grade, when she had a math test she was sure she was going to fail. She also wore a new hair clip for the first time that day. Sure enough, she passed the test. Ever since then, she'd worn it when she needed good luck. It hadn't failed her yet.

Her dad went to bring her mom down from her bedroom. Despite her mom's condition, she still had to attend the Reaping. Jade's mom had developed a condition when Jade was 9. It caused her to become weak and lose a lot of her memories. She could no longer remember who anyone was, even Jade or her dad. She mainly stayed in her room and watched random things on TV. Jade's dad brought her mother, June, down in her wheelchair. She had to stay in the wheelchair most of the time, both to help her move and to keep her in place.

They began the walk to the Reaping Centre. Jade fiddled with her hairclip. It was yellow and it had a snake on it, because in second grade she was obsessed with reptiles. To, like, an annoying extent. She'd be having a conversation with somebody and start spouting random facts about crocodiles. They reached the Reaping Centre. Jade waved goodbye to her parents and went to stand in the check in line. As she got in line, she bumped into someone. Looking behind her, she saw it was her best friend, Julia!

"Hey, Julia!" Jade said.

"Hey, Jade! You're really going to volunteer?" Julia asked.

"That's, like, the hundredth time you've asked. Yes, I'm going to volunteer." Jade replied.

"Okay. You have your hairclip, that's good. That's going to be your token, right?" Julia questioned.

"Why else would I bring it, silly?" Jade answered. Jade and Julia reached the front of the line. They both got their arms pricked, and they walked off towards the 15 year old girls section. They were just in time, as Tullia walked on to the stage. The Mayor began reciting the annual speech.

"Why does the speech have to be the same every year? It's a Quarter Quell, they could at least make, like, a song out of it or something." Jade joked.

"I know! It's boring!" exclaimed Julia. Tullia took the microphone from the Mayor. She asked for a male volunteer. Jade and Julia watched to see Donnigan volunteer. But before he could, a little boy raised his hand and walked up to the stage.

"Huh, that's weird." Jade remarked.

"He's so little! Why would he volunteer so early?" asked Julia, confused.

"I don't know." said Jade. The little boy said his name was Max Jaxon. Tullia took the microphone again. "May I please have a female volunteer?" she asked. Jade raised her hand and began to walk to the stage. Once she climbed on stage, she took the microphone from Tullia.

"I'm Jade Rivers." she said. Jade had to shake hands with the little boy. He really was very small, she had to bend down a little to shake hands with him.

**Max Jaxon, 11**

After Max shook hands with Jade, some Peacekeepers came over. They led him back to the Justice Building. He was told to enter a room in the back of the building. He waited for a few minutes. Max thought that this was when friends and family were supposed to come. He knew his 'mother' and'sisters' wouldn't, though. But, a few seconds later, the door opened.

It was his friend Ratchet. Ratchet was 13 and his parents had money. At school, he'd often give Max some extra lunch, or help him with schoolwork. They had been friends for a few years now.

"Max, I hope you have a plan to come back." said Ratchet. Max had already told Ratchet that he would volunteer, which is why he wasn't surprised.

"Yeah. It's called win the Hunger Games. Unless you can think of another way?" Max asked.

"Sorry, nothing's coming to mind. Be careful, I guess." Ratchet replied. He bent down and gave Max a hug.

"Bye!" said Max.

"Bye Max. Hope I see you soon." said Ratchet, leaving the room.

**Jade Rivers, 15**

Jade was taken back to one of the tribute visiting rooms. She sat down on a chair and waited for her visitors. Julia came in first.

"Hey, Julia! We just talked. Thought of anything else you need to say to me?" asked Jade.

"You're my best friend." Julia said.

"Well, duh, and vice versa." Jade replied.

"Also, keep the hairclip on. That thing's good luck." Julia added.

"I promise." said Jade. Julia smiled at Jade.

"Bye, Jade!" Julia said.

"Bye, Julia!" Jade said. As Julia left, Jade's parents came in.

"Hey, Dad." Jade said.

"Hey, Julia. I'm proud of you!" said her dad.

"Thanks!" Jade said. Jade looked at her mom.

"Bye, Mom." Jade said. Her mom didn't respond. She never really said much, just babbled like an infant might. The Peacekeepers knocked on their door, signaling their time was up.

"Bye, Dad!" Jade called as he wheeled her mom out of the room. Jade touched her hairclip. 'Good luck, Jade Rivers.' she thought.

**A/N: Thanks to Annabeth Pie for these two tributes! What do you think of them? Remember, Career tributes don't have to be older. I'd love to see some baby Careers!**


	4. District 6 Reapings

**Octavian Porter, 13**

Octavian woke up. He got out of bed and went over to the drawers in the back of the room. He threw on a pair of pants and a T-shirt. He ran his hand through his hair. There was no use in brushing it, it would stay messy no matter what he did. Octavian started to head downstairs when he bumped into another boy.

"Hey look, the weirdo was so off in space that he forgot to see me!" the boy said loudly. A couple of Octavian's other roommates looked over and laughed. Octavian pushed past the other boy and headed down to eat breakfast. He headed over to the table he usually sat at. As usual, there was only one other kid there, a younger girl who was always writing in her journal. She never bothered him, and neither of them really talked much, so they could sit near each other without the problems Octavian would have if he sat with the kids his own age. He finished his breakfast and left the cafeteria. He didn't like the cafeteria, too many people.

He went to an unused closet in the back of the building. Nobody else really wanted to hang out in a closet, which meant it was a good place for him to sit and do nothing. He sat down and pulled his knees to his chest. It was going to be another hour or so before they had to leave for the Reaping. A lot of the other kids were nervous about the Reapings. That didn't really make sense, given they wouldn't have to go unless they decided to, Quarter Quell and all. Besides, he already knew who was going - he was.

It wasn't like anyone actually cared about him (including himself), and it would make sure no nine-year-old idiot went in on a dare. Octavian had thought about just telling everyone he was going in to calm them down. But he didn't want people trying to convince him not to go, and honestly, he felt a lot of his peers kind of deserved to be nervous. Octavian wondered who the girl volunteer would be. He hoped she wouldn't be from the community home, it would be worse if he knew her. And he also hoped she would be older - not a nine or ten year old. But it didn't matter that much. He probably wouldn't end up having to kill her, there would be 22 other tributes and an arena to do that.

Octavian heard some yelling outside. It sometimes got really loud in the community home, which was to be expected from somewhere with so many kids. He ignored it for a couple minutes, until he realized what they were yelling about. It was time to go to the Reapings. Octavian left the closet and hurried to the front door. A bunch of kids were there, but not all of them. It took a few minutes for all of the kids to get to the front doors. Then it was time to leave.

The large group started to walk to the Reaping Centre. Octavian was one of the only ones walking alone, the other kids were mainly in groups. Octavian didn't really have friends. The closest person he had to a friend was the girl he sat with at meals, and they'd talked to each other maybe 5 times over the years. He barely even knew her name, Carmen, and that she was ten years old. He just didn't like people. They were too talkative and annoying and a good portion of them liked to insult him. So, Octavian tended to keep to himself.

The group reached the Reaping Centre. The staff and Reaping-ineligible kids went to sit in the audience, while Octavian followed the other 9 to 15 year olds to the check-in. He waited in line quietly. The kid behind him kept 'accidentally' stepping on his shoe. Octavian would yell at him, but that would mean talking, and the kid would probably yell at him back, and it would all be too much effort. So he just ignored the other boy. Eventually, Octavian reached the front of the line. He stuck his hand out and the Peacekeeper pricked his finger with the needle.

Octavian walked over to where the other thirteen-year-old boys were standing. Since it had taken a while for the community home kids to get to the Reapings, it was only a couple minutes before their escort came on stage. The District 6 escort, Cosmin Press, walked up to the very front of the stage.

"Good morning, District Six! It's time to watch the annual video!" Cosmin announced. Ugh, Octavian hated people with loud, obnoxious voices like that. They hurt his ears. The mayor of District 6 turned the video on and began his annual speech. Also on the stage were the five living Victors from the district. The two that would mentor this year were Bridger Masten and Travis Jacobs. The video ended, and Cosmin began to speak again.

"Alright! Now that the video is over, it's time to start the Reapings! May I please have the male volunteer?" Octavian raised his hand.

"That young man in the middle, there! With the curly hair! Come on up to the stage, you!" said Cosmin. Octavian walked up to the stage. Once he got up there, Cosmin handed him a microphone. He stared at it for a few seconds.

"What's your name, you?" Cosmin asked.

"Oh. Right. My name. I'm Octavian Porter." Octavian put the microphone down.

**Trai Mason, 13**

Trai woke up and rolled over. There was something under her. What was she laying on? Oh, right. Her box of matches. Trai always kept a box of matches with her. She needed new matches pretty often, but she always used the same box. It was red and had 'If you can't beat em', burn em'' written on it in cursive. She'd gotten it as an eighth birthday present, and had somehow managed not to lose it while working with the Watchers.

Trai got out of bed and got dressed. She only had one dress, and it was singed around the edges… clothing damage was a bit of an occupational hazard. She laced up her sneakers and put her matchbox in her dress pocket. Trai walked downstairs to eat breakfast. Her parents, Bera and Flier, and her 16-year-old sister, Bianca, were already at the table. She sat down to eat and noticed her food was cold. Trai pulled a match out of her matchbox and lit it. She held it near her bowl for a couple seconds, then blew it out.

"Trai! What have I said about fire at the table!" yelled her dad.

"Not to. However, you've also told me to never follow rules." Trai replied.

"I didn't mean my rules!" her dad said.

"Hypocrite." commented Bianca. Trai laughed. She finished up her breakfast and left the kitchen.

"Mom! I'm going to the Reapings!" Trai yelled.

"But we're not ready yet!" said her mom.

"Bye anyways!" Trai said as she ran out the door. She hadn't told her family she was going to volunteer, they'd just worry about her. She had told her friends, though. Her and her friends had agreed to meet at Karina's house and walk to the Reaping Centre. Trai got to Karina's house pretty fast. Karina was standing outside waiting. Karina was 13, like Trai, and along with their other friend Varon, was a part of the Watchers.

"Hi Trai!" she shouted.

"Hey Kari!" Trai shouted back.

"I haven't seen you since we blew up that factory last week!" Karina said.

"I know! I would have met back up with you to hang out, but we got separated running from the Peacekeepers." Trai said. At that moment, their other friends, Varon and Caprice, came running up.

"Hey guys! Ready to go?" Karina asked. The two boys nodded. Trai and her friends started walking toward the Reaping Centre.

"So… you're going to volunteer?" Caprice asked.

"Yep! What, did you think I was playing a trick on you?" Trai replied.

"I don't know. You've played tricks on us before." Varon said.

"No, guys. I'm actually going. Kari, you believe me, right?" Trai asked.

"Of course I believe you! If you say you're going to do something crazy, that means you're going to do something crazy! I have known you since kindergarten, you know!" Karina answered. The four friends reached the Reaping Centre. They got in line to check in.

"I wonder what your parents will think." Varon remarked.

"They'll probably yell at me a bit, but they're not the issue. Bianca is. She'll go absolutely insane! You know how overprotective she is!" Trai said. They got to the front of the line. The two boys got pricked first, then Karina, then Trai. Trai followed Karina into the 13-year-old girls section. They were just on time, the escort was coming out. Trai could see her family in the audience towards the left. The escort, Cosmin Press, started to announce the Reaping. Then the video started. Karina tapped on Trai's shoulder.

"What, Kari?" Trai asked.

"Trai, do you have your matches? You know you can't take them with you, but you can take the box." Karina said.

"Oh, right." Trai pulled her matchbox out of her pocket and dumped the matches into her hand. She handed them to Karina. Karina stuffed the matches into her shoe (her dress didn't have any pockets). Then, Cosmin asked for boy volunteers. She didn't know the boy who went up, but he looked about her age. He said his name was Octavian Porter. After that, Cosmin called for girl volunteers. Trai raised her hand.

"The girl with the red hair! Come here, you!" the escort called. Trai walked up to the stage and took the microphone from Cosmin.

"I'm Trai Mason and the Capitol are idiots!" Trai yelled, before smashing the microphone as hard as she could against the ground. As soon as Trai let go of the microphone, Peacekeepers grabbed her.

**Octavian Porter, 13**

Octavian was kind of relieved that Trai was dragged away by Peacekeepers, because it meant he didn't have to shake hands with her. Touching was like talking: social interaction, and therefore annoying. A couple of other Peacekeepers came over to him and led him to the back of the Justice Building. He was put in a small room with some chairs. He sat down in one.

He knew this was where tributes said goodbye to people they knew, but he didn't think anybody cared about him enough to visit. So, he was extremely surprised when the door started to open. His visitor was Carmen. She walked up to him. Without saying a word, she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him.

"I won't say bye. That's pessimistic." Carmen said as she left the room. Octavian unfolded the paper. It read '_Hope is the most powerful weapon'._

**Trai Mason, 13**

The Peacekeepers dragged Trai off to a little room with nothing but a couple of chairs. She waited in the room for a couple minutes before her family and friends came running in. Bianca and her parents were the first to get to her.

"Why did you volunteer! It's dangerous! Way too dangerous!" Bianca shouted.

"Trai, why?" said her mom.

"Trai, what do you think you're doing?" yelled her dad.

"Everyone calm down!" Trai yelled.

"I volunteered because I want to show the Capitol just how much I hate them. Yes, I know it's dangerous. Have I ever cared about danger? You know I haven't. Now, stop worrying. Either I'll see you after the Games, hopefully having started a rebellion, or I won't!" Trai said. Her family looked at her.

"Well, can you give us a hug first?" asked her mom.

"Okay!" Trai gave her parents and sister a hug. Her family left the room. Then, her friends came over.

"You actually did it!" "You volunteered!" said Varon and Caprice simultaneously.

"I said I would!" Trai replied.

"You'll be careful, right?" asked Caprice.

"I'll try. Careful's not really my strong suit." Trai said.

"It sure isn't." Varon remarked.

"Hey, only I can insult myself!" said Trai. Then a Peacekeeper knocked on their door and said Trai's time was up.

"Remember to burn the Capitol, Trai!" Karina said.

"Duh, Kari! That's why I'm here in the first place" Trai yelled as her friends left the room.

**A/N: Thanks to DefoNotAFangirl for Octavian and R.J Lupin1 for Trai!**

**Who did you like better?**

**I have a poll on my profile about whether I should write the Reapings for 2 or 5 next. Please vote on it!**


	5. District 5 Reapings

**Levy Tariq, 14**

Levy woke up. He checked the time, even though he knew it was seven a.m. It was always seven a.m. Well, when he woke up, anyways. Obviously it didn't stay seven a.m. the entire day. If it did, he would have checked to make sure his clock was working.

Levy grabbed his homework from last night off of a table and stuffed it in his backpack. Then he got dressed. Levy didn't particularly like school, but apparently he had to attend until he was eighteen. That meant four more years of school.

Once Levy had gotten dressed, he headed down to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Levy sat down on top of the table. He had always preferred sitting on tables to in chairs. He didn't know why. On the way up, he knocked over a glass of water. He wondered where it had come from. A few seconds later, Levy's dad, Alec, walked in.

"Levy, you knocked over my water!" said his dad.

"Oh." said Levy. Levy continued to sit on the table and stare into space. Well, not literally into space. The kitchen wall in the way of outer space. Stupid kitchen wall! It must have been trying to annoy him. Levy stuck his tongue out at the wall.

"Levy, can you please clean up the water you spilled?" asked his dad. Levy did not respond, but he went to get a towel. Then, he soaked up the water that was on the floor. After that was done, Levy grabbed his backpack and started to head off to school.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" called his dad. Levy then realized he had forgotten to eat breakfast.

"Right, breakfast! I have to eat before I go to school." said Levy, going to sit at the table.

"No, Levy. There's no school today." his dad corrected.

"No school? Great!" Levy shouted.

"I've never seen a kid this excited about Reaping Day before." Levy's dad commented. Levy realized why school was canceled.

"Oops. I forgot." he said. Levy's dad shook his head.

"Well, we have an hour or so, anything you need to do before we leave?" his dad asked. Levy thought for a moment.

"I need to make my bed!" Levy announced. He ran back upstairs to his room. Levy always made his bed in the mornings. If he didn't, the bed-invading aliens would take it. Bed-invading aliens only liked unmade beds, though. If he remembered to make his bed, they wouldn't take it. Levy finished making his bed. There were no bed-invading aliens in it.

Levy sat on the table in his room. He usually did homework on the table, but sometimes he would also sit on it. Levy really liked sitting on tables. He noticed there was a pencil on the table. Levy picked up the pencil. He leaned down and started to doodle on the table. A little while later, he heard his dad calling him. Levy went downstairs.

"Okay Levy, it's time to leave." his dad said. Levy and his dad started the walk to the Reapings. They lived in a central area, which meant it only took them a few minutes to get to the Reaping Centre. However, this also meant that they arrived a little bit early. There wasn't much of a line for the check-in yet. Levy only waited for a few minutes before he was at the front. He got his hand pricked. Then, he was sent through to the fourteen-year-old boys section.

Standing in the Reaping Centre was kind of boring. Plus, it kept getting more and more crowded. Over the next twenty minutes, more and more kids filed in to their sections. The boy in front of Levy had a birthmark on his neck. It looked bumpy. Levy reached out and touched it. It was bumpy! The boy suddenly turned around.

"Hey, don't touch me!" he yelled.

"But your birthmark looked bumpy! I wanted to see if it actually was!" Levy said. The boy made a strange facial expression and scooted a few inches away from Levy.

A minute or so after that, the escort came on to the stage. The escort for District 5 was a woman named Junia Harwell. She always wore these dresses with huge puffy sleeves and even bigger skirts, and hats with brims the length of her arms. She had bright blue and pink striped hair. Levy wasn't quite sure how someone could have hair in those colors. Did she paint it?

Behind Junia were the two mentors, Mitzi Bly and Ray Acus. Next to Junia was the Mayor. The Mayor put on the Reaping video. Levy watched the video. He didn't quite understand why they had to watch it every year. Maybe it was for the little kids who weren't old enough to understand last year. There was an extra part of the video this year, because it was a Quarter Quell. Then the video ended. Junia began to talk. She had a funny accent.

"May the male volunteer please raise his hand?" Junia asked. Well, Junia had asked for someone to raise their hand. He should probably do it. Maybe it would be interesting! Levy raised his hand.

"The boy in the back with the curly hair, please come up to the stage!" Levy walked up to the stage. It was weird to look down at the Reaping Centre like this. Everyone seemed really short! Junia handed him a microphone. Levy remembered what he had seen other kids do in past Reapings. He took the microphone and spoke loudly.

"I'm Levy Tariq!" He gave the microphone back to Junia.

**Luna Soleil Skaia**

Luna opened their eyes. They climbed out of bed and put on their Reaping outfit - it was blue. Blue was Luna's favorite color. Luna brushed their red hair and put it in a ponytail. They didn't like it when it was down, it tended to get in their face and cover their eyes.

Luna walked downstairs. They found their little sister, Starla. Actually, she wasn't so little - she was already 5' 4" to Luna's admittedly short 4'11". The difference in height was mainly due to the fact that Luna was adopted.

"Hey, Luna! I heated up some oatmeal for us! I even remembered that you don't like the really sugary kind!" said Starla.

"Cool. Are you ready to go?" Luna asked their sister.

"Yep! I was just waiting for you to wake up. You're such a night owl." Starla replied. Luna sat down to eat their breakfast. Luna had already told their family and friends that they were going to volunteer, so it wouldn't be a shock to them. Luna finished their breakfast. They put their bowl in the sink to be washed later.

"I'm going to go get Mom." said Luna. Skye Curie, their adopted mother, was in her office. She had fallen asleep at her desk again. Luna's mom often worked up until one or two a.m. and fell asleep in her office. Luna shook their mother. Skye looked up at Luna.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Mom, it's time to leave for the Reapings." Luna told their mother.

"Sure. Just let me get changed first." Luna's mother headed off to her room to get ready.

"Luna, I have something for you." Starla said.

"What is it?" they asked. Starla pulled a blue ring out of her pocket.

"It's your token! You said you didn't know what to bring, so I bought you one at the store!" Starla exclaimed. Luna smiled and took the ring. They put it on their finger.

"Thanks, Starla." said Luna. Then, Skye came downstairs. The three of them started the walk to the Reaping Centre. The Reaping Centre was about a twenty minute walk from their house. On the way, Skye quizzed Starla on her upcoming algebra test.

"X is 5. Mom, I clearly know the math. Stop asking me these questions!" Luna laughed. Starla was smart for her age, but she didn't actually like schoolwork (along with ninety percent of thirteen-year-olds everywhere). The small group arrived at the Reaping Centre. Skye walked off to sit in the audience. Luna and Starla went to get in the check-in line. They were just on time, and the line was now pretty long. After a while, Starla got through, and then Luna.

Luna went to stand with the other fifteen-year-old girls (not that Luna was really a girl, but you couldn't change Reaping paperwork). Their escort, Junia Harwell, eventually came up on stage. She asked for the male volunteer first. It was a boy a bit younger than Luna named Levy Tariq. Then, Junia took the microphone again.

"May the female volunteer please raise her hand?" Junia asked. Luna raised their hand.

"The girl with the red ponytail! Come on up!" shouted Junia. Luna walked up to the stage. They took the microphone when it was offered to them.

"My name is Luna Soleil Skaia, and I'm not a girl!" Luna said.

**Levy Tariq, 14**

After shaking hands with the other tribute, Levy was led to a room. The room had wallpaper with a red and grey pattern. The pattern repeated over and over and over and over and - Levy's dad walked in.

"Dad, I was counting the pattern on the wall. You interrupted me!" Levy said.

"Levy, do you realize what you just did?" Levy's dad asked.

"Yes. I was counting the pattern on the wall." he replied.

"I meant, why did you volunteer?" asked his dad.

"Junia asked someone to raise his hand. So I raised my hand. Duh." Levy didn't know why his dad seemed so agitated. He had just raised his hand when he was supposed to. At school, it was a good thing to raise his hand! Why not at the Reapings?

"Levy, you just volunteered for the Hunger Games." his dad said.

"I know. I want to see what happens. It might be interesting." said Levy.

"You do realize you'll probably die, right?" asked Levy's dad.

"Yeah. Does that matter?" Levy replied. His dad sighed and reached out. Levy stared at his dad's arms.

"Levy, can I have a hug?" asked his dad.

"Sure!" said Levy, and gave his dad a hug. The second visitor was Abigail. Abigail was always trying to be his friend. Levy didn't get what was so hard to understand about "I don't want friends". Abigail was two years younger than him and was always asking questions.

"Levy! You volunteered! Why?" One of her most frequent questions was 'why'.

"Junia asked someone to." Levy told her.

"Okay then. Make sure not to die!" Abigail said cheerfully. Abigail reached into her pants pocket and pulled out something. It was a bracelet made of different colored plastic wrap.

"It's called a token!" she said.

"I like it!" Levy told her. He put the bracelet on.

"Bye!" said Abigail, leaving the room.

**Luna Soleil Skaia, 15**

Luna shook hands with Levy. Then, they followed some Peacekeepers to a room with strangely patterned walls. They were soon followed by their mother, sister, and three best friends. Those three friends were Delta, Elizabeth, and Jason. Delta came up to them first.

"Hey, Luna!" Delta said. Delta was a sixteen year old boy.

"Hi, Delta!" said Luna.

"Now, you better win, or you might put me off in two years." Delta said. He was planning to volunteer when he turned eighteen.

"I'll try my best." Luna replied. Delta left the room. The next person to talk to Luna was Elizabeth. Elizabeth was Luna's age and the mayor's daughter.

"I'm still not sure about you doing the whole 'volunteer' thing." Elizabeth said.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just make sure Starla doesn't take my stuff while I'm gone!" Luna said. They both laughed and gave each other a hug. Then Elizabeth left the room and Jason came over to talk to Luna. Jason was the youngest of Luna's friends at fourteen.

"Hi Jason!" Luna said.

"Hi Luna. Well, technically, I guess this is 'Bye, Luna'." Jason said.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious. The goodbye rooms are not for saying hello. You don't have to tell us." Jason looked at them oddly.

"But you kept saying hi to people!" he said.

"Nevermind. Bye, Jason." Luna said.

"Bye, Luna!" said Jason, walking out of the goodbye room. Starla came up to them.

"So, can I have your bedroom?" Starla asked.

"No, Starla. You can't have any of my stuff." Luna told their little sister.

"Awww." their sister complained.

"You can have a hug, though." Luna hugged Starla and sent her out of the room.

"Luna, be safe." said their mother.

"Mom, I volunteered. I think I'm already past that point." Luna said.

"Well, then be careful." Luna's mom said.

"That, I can do." Luna gave their mom a hug. Then, the Peacekeeper said their time was up. Skye left the room.

**A/N: **What did you think of them? Who do you like better?

Thanks to ZeroIsANumber for Levy and DefoNotAFangirl for Luna!


	6. District 2 Reapings

**Mars Chintz, 11**

Mars rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He sat up and stretched. Mars leant over and grabbed his backpack. It was black with his initals on it in red. He had gotten it as his bookbag for school in the second grade, but now he used it to carry stuff around with him. He unzipped the backpack and pulled out a sleeve of crackers and small pack of dried fruit. That was all of the food he had left in his backpack, because there was no point in saving it when he was going to volunteer.

Mars took out one of his few changes of clothes and looked around. Generally, the places he fell asleep were pretty deserted, but it was good to make sure. Once Mars made sure nobody was in sight, he quickly changed his clothes. Then, he reached down and got his blanket that he'd been sleeping on, stuffing it into his backpack. Mars had no idea what time it was, which meant he needed to hurry unless he wanted to miss the Reaping. Mars left his backpack under the ledge he had fallen asleep under and walked towards the central part of the District.

He wondered who was actually supposed to be volunteering. Mika would probably know, she went to the Academy. Mars, unlike pretty much every other tribute from District 2 ever, was not a Career. He wasn't even planning on winning. Mars was planning to start a rebellion, like his dad wanted to. Of course, then his dad died before he could get anywhere. Mars couldn't think of a good way to start a rebellion without dying, but at least this way, everyone in the entire country would see him. Mars guessed there was a slight possibility he could win, but probably not. Openly rebellious tributes almost always died. And it's not like he could be 'unopenly' rebellious. He had no filter whatsoever.

Mars reached the square. He grimaced. Mars hated the Reaping Centre. District 2's Reaping Centre was always covered in cheerful decorations, because most people here actually _liked _the Games. Not Mars. It wasn't the worst thing possible… they could just take a bunch of kids and publicly execute them. At least one kid got to survive this way. And if the country ever got to a point where all the other bad stuff the Capitol did was gone but for some reason the Games were still there, that wouldn't be too bad. But still, the Games weren't a _good _thing. Mars started to walk over to the check in line when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see who it was.

"Hey, Mars!" said his best and only friend, Mika. Mika was a year older than him and the daughter of the Mayor. Oddly enough for a kid like that, she shared his rebellious opinions. He had met Mika only a couple weeks after his dad had been killed. He had been only eight years old. Ever since then, she had provided him with supplies, and he had provided her a friend that she could rant about the Capitol with.

"Hi, Mika!" Mars said. They walked over to the check in line.

"I can't believe you're really doing this." Mika told him.

"Believe it. Now, do you know who's actually supposed to volunteer?" Mars replied.

"The boy's a 14-year-old named Vincent Ward, and the girl - wait for it - is a _nine-year-old _named Claudia Stryker." Mika answered.

"Nine? Wow. Well, as long as it's not you!" said Mars.

"Definitely not me. Dad might make me train, but I have no interest in actually volunteering. Ever. I'll leave the 'willingly entering most likely fatal situations' to you." Mika said. The two friends reached the front of the line. Mika had her hand pricked first, and walked off to the 12-year-old girls' section. Mars stuck out his hand to be checked in. Afterwards, he walked to the 11-year-old boys' section.

Everyone was waiting for the District 2 escort, Emilian Gregory. The Victors and Mika's dad were already on stage. District 2 had 40 total victors and 12 living ones, the most of any district. The two mentoring this year were Valora Ridge and Corin Hightower. Mars wondered if Corin would be mad at him for volunteering instead of Vincent. Emilian finally walked onstage. He greeted everyone and then helped the mayor put on the annual video (Mika's dad was no good with technology).

Mars _hated _this video. He wished he could punch the screen, but, unfortunately, it was too far away. Stupid screen. The video wasn't even true. The rebels weren't the bad guys, the Capitol was. The video was a lie! Mars really, _really, __**really **_hated the annual video. And it was even longer this year because it was a Quarter Quell! The video finally ended. Emilian took the microphone.

"Alright District 2! Can I please have a male volunteer?" he asked. Mars knew the protocol for volunteering, he'd seen people do it every year.

He put one hand to his mouth, raised the other in the air, and yelled out as loud as he could "I volunteer!" Then, he walked up to the stage. Once Mars got up to the stage, Emilian handed him the microphone.

"What's your name?" Emilian asked.

"No!" Mars shouted, throwing the microphone at the video screen. As two Peacekeepers came to drag him off, he noticed two things. One, that annoying, lying video screen had shattered. Two, there was a fourteen-year-old boy in the back of the square yelling about it being his turn to volunteer. That must have been Vincent.

**Claudia "Dia" Stryker, 9**

"Wake up! Wake up!" Dia banged on her big sister's bedroom door.

"Ariel! Unlock the door! It's time to wake up!" Dia kicked the door as hard as she could. Dia didn't want to break her sister's door for the third time this month, but if Ariel wouldn't even bother to _wake up_ on the day she was going to volunteer -

"What, Dia?" asked Ariel.

"You need to get up! Come on, El!" she said.

"It's only five in the morning. We don't need to get up for another _two hours_." said Ariel.

"I want to get in some extra training before I volunteer! Come on, let's go get Lolo!" Dia shouted.

"Fine. Just let me get dressed first." replied Ariel. Dia stood by her sister's door. She crossed her arms. Didn't El know that she needed to train! A couple minutes later, Ariel came out of her bedroom. She had changed out of pajamas and into her training clothes.

"Finally! Now let's get Lolo!" Dia ran down the hallway towards her five-year-old brother's room. Apollo never locked his door (he didn't know how yet), so Dia just barged right in. She jumped onto her sleeping little brother and began to tickle him. Apollo woke up and started giggling.

"Good morning Lolo! Get dressed, we're gonna go train!" Dia said.

"Yay! Training time!" shouted her younger brother. Apollo put on his training clothes and followed his sisters to the training room. Unlike most kids in District Two, the Stryker siblings did not attend the Academy. Instead, their parents hired special trainers just for them. The Academy still analyzed them yearly to see if they were eligible to volunteer, though. That was how Dia had been picked this year. Dia was the first in the training room. She ran straight to the knives.

"But Diiiiiiiaaaaaaaa, I wanted to use the knives today!" said Apollo.

"I'm volunteering today, so I get to use my weapon. Go practice climbing or something." Dia said. She turned back to her knives. Knives were Dia's main weapon. She was too small to be able to hold a sword or an axe or anything along those lines. Ariel could, but Ariel was also sixteen. Dia was very good with her knives, however. She could use both throwing knives and daggers, and she often beat Ariel in training despite Ariel being much bigger than her. Dia started to throw her knives at the target dummies. She hit them all in fatal spots, except for one which she had to throw to the side because Apollo decided it would be a good idea to run through the knife throwing area while it was in use.

"Dia! Over here!" called Apollo. Dia ran over towards her brother.

"Do you want to do a race on the obstacle course?" Apollo asked.

"Sure, Lolo!" Apollo loved to compete with Dia and Ariel, even though he pretty much never won (unless it was a 'who's the shortest' competition). Dia and Apollo started the obstacle course. When Dia was finished, she looked back. Apollo was about three-fourths done, and he was on the monkey bars. It took him a few minutes, but he got to the end of the course.

"Good job, Lolo! That's your best time so far!" Dia congratulated. Dia went to do more weapons practice when the training room door opened. It was her parents, Astrid and Jakob.

"Kids! Go put your Reaping outfits on! We're leaving in fifteen minutes!" shouted Jakob. The three kids ran upstairs to change. Dia's Reaping outfit was a red-and-gold dress. She then grabbed her red training headband - one of those ones that go around the head, not over it- and put it on. She had already decided that would be her token. Dia rushed downstairs. She was the first one to the front door.

"I'm ready to go, Mama, Daddy!" she said.

"Great! Now, what's your job? What will make Mama and Daddy proud of you, Dia?" Astrid asked.

"Win the Hunger Games!" Dia shouted.

"You know it! You have your token?" said her mom.

"Mom, I'm wearing it." said Dia, pointing to her headband. Her mom laughed and shook her head. Then, Ariel and Apollo came downstairs. Dia's dad entered the room.

"Everybody ready?" he asked.

"Yep!" said the kids simultaneously. The family set off for the Reaping Centre. The Strykers lived really close to the district center, so it took them about five minutes to get there. When they got to the Reaping Centre, everyone but Dia went off to the audience section. Dia, on the other hand, went to go check in. Dia waited in line for a few minutes until she reached the front. She stuck out her hand and let the Peacekeeper check her blood. Then, Dia walked over to the nine-year-old girls' section. The other volunteer this year would be a fourteen-year-old named Vincent Ward.

After a couple minutes of waiting in her section, the escort, Emilian Gregory, walked out. They played the video that talked about how the rebel districts tried to overthrow the Capitol and were punished with the Hunger Games. District Two didn't rebel, but they _liked _the games, so it wasn't a punishment for them. Emilian asked for a boy volunteer. Dia watched to see Vincent volunteer. But right before Vincent raised his hand, another boy did. He walked up to the stage. Emilian handed him the microphone, but instead of saying his name, the boy shouted and threw the microphone. He had to be taken away by Peacekeepers. Dia didn't get what was so bad about saying your name.

"Can I please have a girl volunteer?" Dia threw her hand in the air as quickly as she could.

She yelled out "I volunteer!", and ran up to the stage. She didn't want anyone stealing her spot like that boy did with Vincent. Emilian gave her the microphone.

"I'm Claudia Stryker!" Dia said. She didn't usually go by her full name, but usually that's what the tributes gave out.

**Mars Chintz, 11**

Mars was dragged into a room with nothing more than a couple of chairs. He had some vague idea that this was a type of visiting room for people to say goodbye to tributes. He was only really expecting one person. That person then opened the door.

"Mars! You really did it!" Mika shouted.

"No, Mika. I haven't done anything yet." Mars told her. He wasn't going to start a rebellion by volunteering. People volunteered all the time.

"Whatever you say, Mars." Mika said. Mika pulled a wristband off of her wrist. It read 'Rebellion Starter". Mars put it on.

"Pretty literal. Where'd you find it?" he asked.

"I made it. You'd be surprised at how much free time I have to learn sewing." Mika replied. The Peacekeeper outside signaled that their time was up. Mars and Mika waved goodbye to each other as Mika left the room.

**Claudia "Dia" Stryker, 9**

Dia didn't have to shake hands with the boy, because he had been taken away by Peacekeepers. Instead, she followed two other Peacekeepers to a little room in the back of the Justice Building. Dia sat down on one of the chairs. A few moments later, her family came in.

"Good job, Dia!" congratulated her mom.

"Congratulations! You're the youngest volunteer in District 2 history!" said her dad.

"Yay! You're awesome, Dia!" exclaimed Apollo. Ariel hung back.

"Yeah, congratulations." she said.

"Thanks guys!" replied Dia.

"Now, you know the plan?" asked her dad.

"Kill the other tributes and don't die!" answered Dia.

"That's pretty much it." said her mom.

"And don't fall off a cliff!" yelled both Ariel and Apollo. Over the past five years, three District Two tributes had made it to the final four only to die by falling off a cliff. It had become a joke to warn people not to fall off a cliff whenever they were about to do something even slightly risky.

"No falling off cliffs!" Dia assured her siblings. The Peacekeeper yelled into the room to say their time was up. Dia gave each family member a hug before they left.

"Bye!" she shouted when they left. Dia smiled. She was finally going to be in the Games!

**A/N:** What did you think of those two? Who do you like better? Any predictions so far? I like to hear other people's opinions. Thanks to R.J Lupin1 for Mars and DefoNotAFangirl for Claudia!


	7. District 12 Reapings

**Sage Valerian, 15**

Sage sat up. His father was still asleep on the other side of the room. Sage stood up and grabbed some clothes from a drawer. He got dressed and walked downstairs.

Sage left his house and started to walk over to Ivy's like he did most mornings. Ivy lived in town, so it took him a little while to get there. He knocked on the door. Rosy answered. Rosy was Ivy's nine-year-old sister.

"Hi Sage!" greeted Rosy.

"Hey Rosy." said Sage. Sage entered their house and went over to their living area.

"Sage!"

"Ivy!" Sage greeted his girlfriend.

"Do you want breakfast?" Ivy asked.

"Sure." he replied. Ivy and him went into the kitchen. She put a piece of bread and a few strawberries on a plate.

"Here, Sage." Ivy gave him the plate. Sage and Ivy went back to the living room. Sage sat down in one of the chairs and ate his breakfast.

"Rosy's worried this year." Ivy told him.

"Why? She won't go in unless she wants to." he asked.

"There's a rumor that if nobody volunteers, the Peacekeepers will force someone to go." she said.

"I mean, that makes sense. They're not just going to let 12 not have a tribute. Rosy thinks they'll pick her?" Sage was confused. Why Rosy, out of every other kid in the district?

"No. She thinks they'll pick Aster." Aster Mint was Rosy's best friend. Rosy had a lot of friends, but she was closest with Aster.

Aster was the ten-year-old grandaughter of Calida Embry. Calida Embry was one of the three living victors of District 12, and the current female mentor. She was now in her-mid sixties and had a few grandchildren, including Aster. Aster, however, was the only one between nine and fifteen years old.

Victors' relatives were already more likely to go into the Games. However, Calida was known around 12 for being anti-Capitol. Aster might just be sent in as a punishment for her rebellious behavior. As long as no one else volunteered first.

"That makes more sense." Sage said.

"I've tried to tell her that Aster won't go in, that someone else will volunteer. But she won't listen." Ivy said.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait for the Reapings to be over and Aster to _not _be forced into the Games." Sage told Ivy.

"I guess so." Ivy replied. Rosy came into the room.

"Mama says it's time to leave." she told them.

"Alright, Rosy." said Ivy. Ivy and Sage went to the front door. The girls' parents were waiting there. Their mother was a kindergarten teacher named Lilly and their father was a miner named Cedar.

"Everyone ready to go?" Lilly asked.

"Yes Mama!" said Rosy.

"Yeah, Mom." said Ivy. The family and Sage began the walk to the Reaping Centre. Unlike most days, there was nobody out on the streets, except for others walking to the Reapings. It was much quieter than usual. It honestly made Sage feel a bit uncomfortable.

The Reaping Centre was just a few blocks down from Ivy's house. Lilly, Cedar, and Ivy, who had turned 16 a couple months ago, walked off toward the audience section. Sage and Rosy went to wait in the long line of kids. Rosy was impatient in the line. She kept jumping around and fidgeting. He was a bit confused by this, as Rosy was generally pretty good at staying still. But she was nine, and most nine-year-olds couldn't wait in line that long.

The two of them reached the front of the line. Rosy was in front of Sage. She stuck her hand out and was pricked. The Peacekeeper sent her off to the nine-year-old girls' section. Then, it was Sage's turn to be checked in. After being pricked, he went to stand with the rest of the fifteen-year-old boys. They had barely arrived on time, so it was only a couple minutes before the escort came onstage.

Her name was Avita Chevry. Sage didn't like to look at her for too long, because she had neon green everything - hair and skin included. He bet she glowed in the dark. The other people on the stage were the three living Victors from 12, including the two mentors - Calida Embry and Aidan Graham. The mayor was also up there, because she had to present the Reaping video. The mayor put on the video. Sage didn't pay attention. He didn't think anyone did, really. Maybe little kids who were seeing it for the first time.

Once the video was over, Avita went up to the front of the stage. Unlike every other district, 12 reaped girls first and boys second. It was actually due to a typo in one of their lawbooks… it was meant to be boys first, but whoever wrote it made a mistake. It didn't cause any problems, so everyone just went with it.

"May I please have the female volunteer?" Avita asked. Everyone was silent for a few moments. Sage saw some Peacekeepers looking at them. Then, he heard a familiar voice.

"I volunteer!". Sage looked over to the source of the voice, confirming what he already knew. Rosy had volunteered. Rosy said her name

"Rosemary Sorrel" into the microphone.

Avita asked "May I please have the male volunteer?" Sage knew what he had to do. He had to protect Rosy. He raised his hand. He walked up to the stage and took the microphone when Avita handed it to him.

"Sage Valerian." he said.

**Rosemary "Rosy" Sorrel, 9**

_Aster was standing in the Reaping Centre. Avita asked for the girl volunteer. Nobody said anything. Avita asked again. Still, nobody said anything. Peacekeepers ran in. Rosy stared as they grabbed Aster. They dragged her up to the stage. _

"_This one. This one volunteers." they said. Rosy yelled out that she would go, over and over again, but it was too late. Aster was gone. _

Rosy woke up. This whole week, she had been having nightmares that her best friend Aster would have to go into the Games. A week ago at school, she had heard a rumor. People were saying that nobody would volunteer, and Aster would be forced to go. Why her? Because Aster's grandmother was a Victor who had made some rebellious statements. Making Aster go into the Games would be a punishment for her.

Rosy didn't quite understand the reasons behind it, but she knew she didn't want her best friend to go into the Hunger Games. But to make sure of that, somebody else would need to volunteer. That somebody else would need to be Rosy. Rosy climbed out of bed and pulled her Reaping dress out of a drawer. She put it on. She then picked up her pink, heart-shaped hair clip. Her big sister Ivy had saved up a lot of money to buy this for her, and she really appreciated it. That was why she was going to use it as her token. Rosy put it in the pocket of her dress. She didn't want her parents or sister to see that she had a token, they'd get worried. They didn't know she was planning to volunteer.

Rosy went to the kitchen. Her parents and sister were awake and eating breakfast.

"Morning, Rosy." said her Papa.

"Hi Papa!" Rosy said.

"Did you make your bed?" asked Rosy's Mama.

"Yes, Mama." Rosy told her Mama. Rosy ate her breakfast. When she finished, she heard the doorbell ring. She ran to open it. It was her friend and Ivy's boyfriend, Sage.

"Hi Sage!" she said.

"Hey Rosy." he replied. Rosy let Sage in. Sage went to find Ivy. Rosy went back to her room and sat down on her bed. She grabbed her favorite book, it was about flowers, it had a lot of pretty pictures. A few minutes later, her Mama came in to her room.

"Rosy, tell Ivy and Sage it's time to go." her Mama said. Rosy ran over to the living room.

"Mama says it's time to leave." she told them.

"Alright, Rosy." said Ivy. Rosy went to wait with her parents. Ivy and Sage walked in.

"Everyone ready to go?" her Mama asked.

"Yes Mama!" Rosy said.

"Yeah, Mom." said Ivy. They all started walking to the Reaping Centre. It was pretty close to their house, so it didn't take long to get there. That was good, because they were barely on time. Rosy waved to her parents and sister as they went off to sit in the audience. Sage and her went to wait in line. Rosy was nervous, so she fidgeted a lot in line. Usually, she was a lot better at staying still.

Rosy got to the front of the line. The Peacekeeper pricked her hand and sent her to stand with the other nine-year-old girls. It was only a couple minutes until Avita came onstage. Rosy didn't pay attention to the video. She was too nervous. Besides, the video was boring.

Avita asked for girl volunteers. Rosy hesitated for a few seconds. Then, she realized nobody else was volunteering. She had to make sure Aster wasn't picked.

"I volunteer!" she shouted. Rosy walked up to the stage. Avita handed her the mic-o-phony, or at least Rosy thought that was what it was called. "Rosemary Sorrel" she said her name when Avita asked.

**Sage Valerian, 15**

Sage had to shake hands with Rosy, which was a bit awkward because they already knew each other really well. Then, Sage was led into one of the visiting rooms. The first people to come in were Rosy's family.

"Sage, I hope you do well." said Cedar.

"Be careful." said Lilly. Ivy ran up to him.

"Sage! I get you're trying to protect Rosy, but please don't die! No, don't let her die! But you don't die either! Just… why can't nobody die!" she yelled. Ivy was crying and clinging to him.

"Ivy, I know. But I have to go." Sage kissed her.

"Wait! I have something for you!" she said. She pulled a small metal ring off of her finger and gave it to him.

"Are you proposing? Now?" he asked.

"No you idiot! It's a token!" she said. She was still clinging to him, so he slowly pried her hands off, leading her out of the visiting room. Her parents followed.

His next visitor was his friend Basil Thornwaver. A couple years back, Sage had been a troublemaker. He and a gang of boys had went around the district doing stupid, illegal things. After he met Ivy, she had said that she wouldn't date him unless he stopped. After he started behaving better, three of those boys had stopped being friends with him. He was still friends with Basil, though.

"Sage! You volunteered! Why didn't you tell me?" Basil shouted.

"I wasn't planning to. Not until Rosy did. I had to protect her." Sage told him.

"Oh. But wait, if you're protecting Rosy… you're not going to win, are you?" Basil asked.

"No. I'm not. I'm only here to make sure Rosy does." Sage said.

"Just promise me one thing?" Basil said.

"What?"

"If Rosy dies, try to win." Basil replied.

"Okay." said Sage. Basil left the room.

Sage's last visitor was his father, Lithop. Sage's father didn't talk to him much at all since Sage's mother and sister had died when he was ten. Sage suspected that he blamed him for their deaths, which didn't make sense (they were sick).

"Sage." Lithop said.

"Yes?" Sage said.

"I'm sorry." said his father. Sage stayed silent.

"For ignoring you, and not being there. I'm sorry." he continued.

"I forgive you." Sage said. He didn't want to leave and then die not having said something to his father.

"Thank you." Lithop replied. He left the room.

**Rosemary "Rosy" Sorrel, 9**

Rosy was taken to a room in the back of the Justice Building, where she waited for a few minutes. She pinned her hair clip into her hair as she waited. Then, her family came rushing in.

"Rosy! Why did you volunteer?" shouted her Mama.

"I needed to protect Aster." Rosy said.

"Aster? What does she have to do with this?" asked her Papa.

"I heard at school that if nobody volunteered, the Peacekeepers would make Aster go! And it didn't look like anybody was going to volunteer, and I didn't want Aster to die!" Rosy said.

"I don't want you to die!" shouted Ivy.

"I'm sorry, Ivy! I didn't mean to upset you! I just wanted to protect my friend." Rosy told her sister.

"I'm not mad at you. Just… please don't die." Ivy told Rosy.

"I'll try." Rosy replied. She gave everybody in her family a big hug before they left. Rosy had a second visitor, Aster.

"Thank you, Rosy." Aster said.

"You're welcome." Rosy answered.

"The Peacekeepers… they said if nobody volunteered… they said they'd make me… I was so scared!" Aster told her.

"I heard people saying that. I couldn't let you die!" Rosy told her best friend.

"Thank you. Be careful, okay? Really really careful? I don't want you to die either." Aster replied.

"I promise, Aster." Rosy said. Aster gave Rosy a hug. Rosy waved goodbye to Aster as she left. Well, at least her friend was safe.

**A/N: **What did you think of those two? Any predictions? Thanks to Emily-Owl99 for both of them.


	8. District 10 Reapings

**Carson Sasney, 9**

He was still sleeping! He didn't get why his brother kept trying to wake him up. Carson rolled over again and tried to go back to sleep. Then, Beckett started tickling him! Carson sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Beckett, stop! I'm trying to sleep!" he said.

"Carson, it's time to get up. It's nine o'clock, and the Reapings start at ten fifteen." Beckett told his little brother. Carson had forgotten it was Reaping Day. He quickly got out of bed, he didn't want to be late.

"Mom laid out your clothes for you on your dresser." said Beckett. Beckett left the brothers' bedroom so Carson could get dressed. Carson went over to his dresser and grabbed the clothes from the top of it. While putting his socks on, he noticed they were way too big. Somehow, Beckett's socks had ended up in his drawer! Carson grabbed a pair of his own socks. After he finished getting dresed, he headed downstairs for breakfast. Carson sat down at the table with his mom and Beckett. His dad brought him his breakfast.

"Morning, Carson!" said his mom.

"Hi, Mom!" Carson replied. He ate his breakfast. His dad noticed he had food on his face, so he got sent back upstairs to wash his face. After washing his face, Carson went downstairs again.

"Is it time to go yet, Mom?" he asked.

"Yes, it is. BECKETT! TAHLO!" his mom called. His brother and dad came running in.

"Guys, it's time to go!" said Carson. They all put their shoes on and left for the Reapings. They lived further out into the district, so it took them a bit to get to the Reapings. During the walk, Carson wandered off. Everyone else was walking slowly. What was wrong with running ahead? He overheard a couple of voices. He looked down the street to see a group of older kids, high schoolers.

"I can't believe we don't get to be Reaped this year!" said one of them.

"I know! We're so unlucky!" said another.

"Yeah! It would've been so fun to go into the Games!" The older kids laughed and walked up ahead until Carson could no longer see them. Well, that was weird. Everyone had always told Carson the Games were a bad thing. But Carson also knew that sometimes people would tell him something was bad and it would actually be really fun. Like jumping on the bed! While he thought it over, his family caught up to him.

"Carson, stay with us!" said his mom. Carson nodded and followed them the rest of the way to the Reaping Centre. At the Reaping Centre, Carson's parent's and Beckett (who was 16) turned to go sit in the audience. Carson walked over to the check-in line. He got in line behind a really tall older kid. He couldn't see anything over their head! Eventually, though, the older kid got checked in, and Carson could see again. Then it was his turn to be checked in. He went to stand with all of the other nine-year-old boys. Carson had barely made it in time, the escort was already walking onstage.

The District 10 escort's name was Florian Waite. Florian had polka-dotted skin, which was silly. Why would somebody want polka-dotted skin? Also onstage were the District 10 Victors, including the mentors Pippa Brownlee and Colin Kelly. The mayor was up there too. She was putting the video on. Carson thought the video was boring. It was just talking about old history stuff. He learned that in school, why did he need to watch a video about it on a day he had off school? It didn't make sense. The video finished, so it was time for the Reaping to start.

"May I have the male volunteer?" Florian asked. Nobody said anything. Carson thought that was weird. The older kids he had heard earlier made it sound like the Games were really fun. Maybe they just didn't know that. Carson decided he would go instead.

"I'll go!" he said, waving his hand in the air.

"You there! Come up onstage!" shouted Florian. Carson walked up to the stage. Florian handed him a microphone and prompted him to say his name.

"Carson Sasney!" he said.

**Lavender Chapram, 15**

Lavender heard somebody yelling. She opened her eyes. Who was yelling?

"Lavender! Come downstairs already!" It was her dad. She got out of bed and grabbed her Reaping dress out of her drawer. It was yellow and a bit big because it used to be her sister's. Adrian was 29 now, so she had no need for a Reaping dress. Lavender got dressed and hurried downstairs. Her dad had set out her breakfast on the table. She sat down to eat.

"Why do you always take so long to get up?" her dad asked.

"Sorry! I was asleep! I couldn't hear you!" Lavender replied. Her dad shook his head. She quickly finished her breakfast.

"Did you remember to clean your room yesterday?" asked her dad.

"Yes, Dad." Lavender said. Her dad was kind of strict, he hated it when she forgot to do things. Lavender's dad looked at his watch.

"Nine fifty. We better get going." he said. She went to get her shoes and put them on. Her dad came to the door a few moments later.

"Let's go." her dad said. They left the house and started the walk to the Reaping Centre. They didn't talk much during the walk. Lavender's dad wasn't much of a talker. He preferred the quiet.

For Lavender, though, Reaping Day was unnervingly quiet. There was nobody out and about, except for small groups walking to the Centre. She didn't like it at all. Once they got to the Reaping Centre, she actually felt a bit more comfortable. There was a crowd there, and more noise. Lavender was very much an extrovert, and she didn't like to be alone. The more people, the better.

Her dad left to go sit with the audience. Lavender walked over to the check-in line. She stood in line and waited. She wondered who was going to volunteer. Hopefully an older kid and not a nine or ten year old. She got to the front of the line and had her hand pricked. Then, she passed through the check-in and went to stand with the other fifteen-year-old girls. Resuming her train of thought, hopefully a little kid didn't volunteer. She hadn't heard of anybody she knew planning to, but that just meant they hadn't told everybody.

After a few minutes standing in the Reaping Centre, the escort, Florian Waite, came out onstage. As soon as the escort came out, the mayor put on the video. Lavender looked at the video for a few seconds, and then stopped paying attention because she already knew what happened. They showed it at every Reaping. The video ended and Florian called for a male volunteer. There was silence for a few moments. Then, a little boy raised his hand.

"I'll go!" he said. Lavender recognized the voice. That was her best friend's little brother, Carson. And her best friend couldn't do anything, because he was a boy and 16. Lavender had to protect Carson. She had to volunteer. Florian turned back to the audience.

"May I have the female volunteer?" he asked. Lavender raised her hand.

**Carson Sasney, 9**

After Carson shook hands with Lavender (which was silly, because he already knew her), some Peacekeepers led him to the back of the Justice Building. They had him go in this little room with some chairs. Carson sat down in one of the chairs. A minute or so later, a bunch of people came in! His mom and his dad and his brother Beckett and his friend Darius! What were they doing here? Carson's parents and Beckett ran over to him.

"What are you thinking?" his mom yelled.

"I wanted to see what the Games were like." Carson told her.

"Why? You know they're horrible! We've told you!" said his dad.

"But earlier, I heard some big kids talking, and they said that they were so unlucky that they couldn't be in the Games, and that it would've been fun!" he explained.

"Carson, they were joking." Beckett said.

"The Games aren't actually fun?" Carson asked.

"No Carson! People die! You might die! Lavender might!" Beckett answered.

"Oh." Carson said. He didn't think he wanted to be here anymore. Darius came over.

"Carson! Do you have to go?" he asked.

"I guess I do." said Carson.

"That's not fair! I don't want you to leave!" his friend yelled.

"Sorry." apologized Carson.

"It's not your fault. It's the big kids' fault for making you think it would be fun!" Darius told him. The Peacekeepers knocked on the door and said their time was up. Carson's family started to leave. Then, his mom stopped suddenly.

"Wait, token!" she exclaimed. She frantically looked around. Finally, she reached up and took off one earring. She handed it to Carson. He put it in his pocket.

"Bye!" yelled Carson as the others left the room.

**Lavender Chapram, 15**

Lavender had to say her name and shake hands with Carson. Then, she was taken to a room in the back of the building. She sat in there for a minute until the door opened. It was her dad and sister.

"Lavender! You weren't supposed to volunteer!" her dad yelled.

"Nobody was _supposed _to. This isn't 2." Lavender replied.

"But why?" asked her sister, Adrian.

"I had to protect Carson. He's Beckett's little brother, remember?" Lavender said. Her sister had moved out about ten years ago, befor Lavender had met Beckett.

"Beckett's your friend, right? Why didn't he go?" Adrian asked.

"He's sixteen." she said.

"Oh, that makes sense." Adrian replied.

"Goodbye Lavender." said her dad.

"Bye Dad. Bye Adrian." Lavender said. They left the room. A couple minutes later, Beckett came in.

"Lavender! You… you… you too?" Beckett said.

"Me too. I'm going to protect Carson, Beckett. He's going to come back." she said.

"But then… you won't…" he replied.

"No. I won't. But I promise, he will." Lavender said.

"Thank you." said Beckett.

"No problem." Lavender replied.

"This is my mom's. She wanted you to take it as a token." Beckett said. He pulled a small yellow bracelet out of his pocket. Lavender took the bracelet and put it around her wrist.

"Tell her thanks for me." she said.

"I will." replied Beckett, leaving.

**A/N:** So, what did you think of those two? A bit of a shorter chapter (I wrote this in about three hours, though, so I was kind of rushing). Any predictions so far?

Thanks to ATributeToPrim for both of these tributes!


	9. District 7 Reapings

**Glaze Woodthrow, 14**

Glaze woke up. He got out of his bed in the dormitory and wandered over to the cabinet where the boys kept their clothes. Glaze pulled out a shirt and pants and got dressed. Then, he opened the dormitory door, slamming it on his way down to breakfast.

Glaze stomped into the cafeteria. He got his food from the counter and looked for a table. Since he had gotten down late, none were free. He walked over to a couple of little kids.

"Get up, I'm sitting here." he said.

"But we're still eating." said one of them.

"I said _get up_." he growled. Why wouldn't they get up? Glaze bent down and grabbed one of them, shoving the kid out of his seat. Glaze sat down and started eating his breakfast. His toast was cold. He hated it when his stuff was cold. Couldn't the idiots keep it warm long enough for him to finish sleeping? Glaze banged his hand on the table in frustration. However, that did nothing but hurt his hand. Stupid table, hurting his hand like that.

Glaze left his gross cold breakfast on the table and walked out of the cafeteria. While walking out, he ran into his little brother, Alder.

"Idiot! How many times have I told you? Never touch me!" Glaze grabbed Alder's shoulders and shook him. He raised his hand, ready to slap his brother in the face, when Alder opened his mouth.

"I'm going to volunteer." Alder said.

"What? You're not allowed. I won't let you!" Glaze yelled.

"You can't exactly stop me." said his brother. Glaze settled for slapping his brother in the face. As Alder clutched his face and walked away, Glaze let out a yell of anger. Why was everyone always leaving? His parents died, and now Alder was going to too! Didn't they love him? They were supposed to love him! Everyone should love him! And not leave him! Ever! Glaze went to go back to his room, but was blocked by one of the orphanage staff.

"It's time to leave for the Reapings." she told him. Glaze turned around and headed for the orphanage door instead. There was a large group of kids crowded by the door. He couldn't see Alder, but he had to be there somewhere. Hard to volunteer without going to the Reapings. He felt a tug on his shirt and turned around. It was a small child, maybe four. "

What?" Glaze asked.

"Where are we going?" the kid asked.

"The Reapings, you idiot. Now stop asking me questions." he answered. The kid walked away. Ugh. Glaze hated the little kids. They were so annoying, always asking stupid questions like 'what's a toenail made of'. How was he supposed to know? The group started to walk out of the building. The kids were crowded together, so people kept bumping into him. Didn't they know not to touch him? He hated being touched.

Glaze pushed through a group of younger kids until he was a few feet to the right of the rest of the group. He began to walk again, now that he had some personal space. Glaze wandered off towards the Reaping Centre. He didn't need to follow the others, he wasn't five or something. When he got to the Centre, he went to stand in line. There were a bunch of other kids in front of him. That was annoying, he hated waiting. Stupid other kids, getting here first. Glaze stepped on the heel of the girl in front of him.

"Hey! What was that for!" she shouted.

"Being in front of me." Glaze said. A little while later, Glaze got to the front of the line. The Peacekeeper had to prick his finger. Again with people touching him! He touched other people, not vice versa! He headed over to the fourteen-year-old boys' section. He wondered if any of these other boys thought they'd volunteer. Given it was a bunch of teenage boys, probably. But Alder was planning to. But Alder wasn't going to either. Alder didn't get to leave him… even if it meant he had to leave Alder.

The District 7 escort, Livia Wyss, walked onstage. Also on stage were the mayor and the Victors, including mentors Waverly Brennan and Acker Benjamin. The mayor played the video that was played every year. Glaze picked at his fingernails. Stupid boring video. Finally, the video ended and Livia walked to the front of the stage.

"May I have the male volunteer?" she asked. Glaze raised his hand. He couldn't let Alder go, he wasn't allowed to leave. Only Glaze was. Livia pointed at him.

"Come on up to the stage!" Livia shouted. Glaze walked up to the stage. He took the microphone from Livia.

"Glaze Woodthrow." he said, scowling.

**Acacia Londerdottir, 12**

Acacia felt someone shaking her shoulder. Really, she was trying to sleep. She rolled over. She felt a tug on her hair. Ugh, Ash. Acacia opened her eyes.

"Stop it, Ash." she told her brother.

"Acacia, it's time to wake up." her older brother said. Acacia sat up and looked over at Ash.

"Do I have to?" she asked.

"Well, it's kind of legally required to attend the Reapings." said Ash.

"Fine." Acacia said. She got out of bed. She went over to the closet to get dressed. She looked over at her brother.

"Are you going to leave the room so I can get dressed or not?" she said.

"Oops. Sorry." Ash replied, hurrying out of their bedroom. Acacia opened her drawer and looked for her Reaping dress. Ash's shirt… Ash's socks… Ash's pants… why did he keep putting his clothes in her drawer? It made it hard to find things. Acacia finally found her Reaping dress and put it on. She grabbed a rubber band, put her hair in a ponytail, and left her bedroom. She headed downstairs to see what there was for breakfast. Acacia's mom, Tracey, was already in the kitchen.

"Morning Acacia. You slept in again. Your brother was up by seven-thirty, you know." her mom said.

"Seven-thirty! Who would want to wake up that early! I don't get morning people. At all." Acacia said. Her mom and Ash always got up early, but Acacia was definitely more of a night owl.

"People in Iceland woke up early." Acacia's mom replied. Acacia's family apparently came from this really old country called Iceland. Her mom was kind of obsessive about it, always trying to get them to be like people from Iceland. Like, the place hadn't existed for ages. Why did her mom like it so much?

"Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? We don't live in Iceland." Acacia said. Acacia sat down at the kitchen table to eat her breakfast. Once she had finished eating, she wandered off to her bedroom. She picked up her assigned book from school. Technically she wasn't supposed to read ahead, but it wasn't like she had anything better to do.

Once Acacia was about halfway through the chapter, her mom called her downstairs. She marked her page and went downstairs.

"Are you two ready for the Reapings?" her mom asked.

"Yeah, Mom." Ash said.

"Yeah, me too." said Acacia.

They left their house and began the walk to the Reaping Centre. Once they got to the Reaping Centre, Ash and Acacia separated from their mom to go stand in line. While Acacia was in line, she felt someone moving behind her. She turned around to see her friend Vesa.

"Hi Vesa!" she said.

"Acacia, I need to tell you something." Vesa said.

"What is it, Vesa?" she asked.

"Mom and Dad told me I had to - had to volunteer! Acacia, I don't want to go!" said Vesa.

"You don't have to, Vesa. Your parents can't force you to raise your hand. Someone else will go." Acacia told her.

"No, they won't. My parents already told a bunch of people that I'm going to volunteer. They said to make sure nobody else does." Vesa replied.

"So? That just means the Peacekeepers will make someone go, most likely not you." Acacia said.

"I don't want that. I don't want it to be my fault that some random kid gets picked. I have to go." Vesa said.

"No. You don't. I do." Acacia replied. Vesa stared at her for a few seconds.

"What? Acacia, no!" said Vesa.

"Vesa. I'm going. Not you. This is not your fault. Someone has to go anyway." Acacia said.

"You're sure?" Vesa asked.

"I'm sure." replied Acacia. Ash, Vesa, and her reached the front of the check-in line. Ash got checked in first, then her and Vesa. The two girls went off to the twelve-year-old girls' section. They waited for a few moments before the escort, Livia Wyss, came onstage. Acacia half-watched as she played the video. Livia turned the video off and asked for the male volunteer. Acacia didn't recognize the boy tribute, but he said his name was Glaze Woodthrow. Then, Livia took the microphone again.

"Can I please have the female volunteer?" Acacia hesitated for a few seconds. Maybe someone else would go? But nobody else raised their hand. So, Acacia raised her hand and walked up to the stage. Once she got up there, Livis handed her the microphone. Acacia took it and said her name.

"Acacia Londerdottir." she said.

**Glaze Woodthrow, 14**

After Glaze shook hands with the girl, a Peacekeeper led him to a small room. He sat down in one of the chairs. He didn't exactly know what this room was for. Probably some sort of waiting area before they took him to the Capitol. A few minutes later, his brother Alder came in. What was he doing here? Were they taking him to the Capitol too? That didn't make sense. There was another kid with him. Glaze had seen him once or twice in the orphanage, but he didn't know anything about him.

"Rowan, meet my brother Glaze. Glaze, this is my boyfriend, Ash." Glaze was furious. His brother had a boyfriend? And didn't tell him? His brother wasn't allowed to date, let alone other boys, let alone without telling Glaze! Glaze yelled and ran at Alder. Almost immediately, though, a Peacekeeper came into the room and grabbed him. Alder and Rowan left.

"By the way, Glaze, I was never going to volunteer. I just wanted to get rid of you." said Alder on his way out. Glaze screamed at the top of his lungs. People were supposed to love him! And do what he wanted! Why didn't they realize that?

**Acacia Londerdottir, 12**

Acacia shook hands with Glaze and followed a Peacekeeper to a room. She sat down in a chair. It was only a minute or so before her mom, Ash, Vesa, and her other friend Aspen burst into the room. Ash and her mom ran over to her first.

"Acacia! What are you doing?" cried her mom.

"Vesa's parents were going to make her volunteer. I went instead." Acacia explained.

"Well, okay, I guess. But what about you?" said Ash.

"I'll try my best." said Acacia. Her mom and brother gave her a hug, then left the room. Aspen came over to talk to her.

"Well, I'll make sure Ash doesn't mess with your things while you're gone." he said.

"Can you tell him not to put his clothes in my drawer? It's hard to find anything." she said.

"I'll do that. Can you not die?" he asked.

"I'll do that." said Acacia. Aspen left the room. Vesa was the last to talk to Acacia.

"Thank you. You didn't have to do that, you know." she said.

"Yes, I did. I wasn't just going to let your parents make you volunteer." Acacia told her.

"But now you have to go." Vesa said.

"At least I chose to." said Acacia.

"Here. Take this. My parents wanted it to be my token, but..." Vesa handed her a green beaded bracelet.

"Thanks, Vesa." she said, sliding the bracelet onto her wrist. One of the Peacekeepers called from the hall to say their time was up.

"Bye Acacia." Vesa said.

"Bye Vesa." replied Acacia.

**A/N: **What did you think of those two? Predictions? Thanks to Emily-Owl99 for Glaze and Annabeth Pie for Acacia.


	10. District 3 Reapings

**Theodore "Teddy" Didjitt, 13**

Teddy rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed. He checked the clock on the table. 9 a.m.! How did he sleep in that late? He was late for school! Wait… it was Reaping Day. He wasn't going to school today. He did need to get up, though, especially if he wanted to volunteer.

Teddy got out of bed and went over to the closet. He pulled on his Reaping clothes and headed downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. His mom, Diana, and little sister, Lucille, were already there.

"Good morning darling!" said his mom.

"Morning Mom." said Teddy. He sat down at the table. There were already bagels on the kitchen table, so he reached out and grabbed one.

"Teddy, did you take my homework?" asked Lucille. Teddy gave her a confused look. What would he do with her homework?

"Why would I take your homework? I have my own homework. Check under your bed, stuff always ends up there." Teddy replied. Stuff did always get under her bed. Once, they found ten sunhats under there. They didn't even own ten sunhats!

"Okay then!" said Lucille.

Teddy finished his breakfast and went back upstairs. He brushed his hair, which didn't do much (it would always be curly, no matter what he did). He went downstairs again to check the time. 9:45! They needed to leave so they could get to the Reapings by 10:30!

"Mom! Dad! Lucille! We need to go!" Teddy shouted. His sister was the first one in the room.

"I found my homework! It _was _under my bed! Now, have you seen my shoes?" she asked loudly.

Teddy rolled his eyes. Lucille could never remember where she put anything. "They're next to the front door." he replied.

"Thanks!" she yelled as she ran off towards the front door. Teddy's mom then came down the stairs.

"Sorry I took so long, I couldn't find a rubber-band!" His mom had her hair up in a ponytail.

"Okay Mom." Teddy said. He checked the time again. 9:53. Why hadn't his dad come down yet?

As if to answer his question, his dad, Lukas, walked into the room. "I just had to finish a work thing. Is everyone ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes, we're all ready." said his mom.

The family left the house and walked towards the Reaping Centre. The Reaping Centre wasn't that far from their house, but they needed to wait in line for check-ins, too. It took them about 15 minutes to get there.

Teddy and Lucille headed for the line of Reaping-eligible kids. Once they had waited for a few minutes, someone poked Teddy in the shoulder. He turned around.

"Demi!" he exclaimed. His friend Demetria was behind him in line.

"Hi Teddy!" she replied.

"This line is boring." interrupted Lucille.

"It's a line. Of course it's boring." Demi said. Lucille crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

"So what have you been doing?" Demi asked.

"Not much. I did some math homework." Teddy replied.

"I also did math homework. I think everybody in the 8th grade did math homework, because we were all assigned math homework. Tell me something interesting." Demi said.

"You already know everything interesting about me. I'm smart, I love science, and I'm going to volunteer today. Nothing else has happened since last week." Teddy had told Demi and his family that he was planning to volunteer a week ago.

Demi rolled her eyes. By this time, they had gotten to the front of the line. Lucille was in front of Teddy, so she checked in first. Teddy walked up to the front and stuck his hand out. Once he was pricked, he walked towards the other 13-year-old boys.

Teddy stood in the group of boys. He checked the large clock at the top of the stage. It was 10:26. The video would start playing at 10:30. Like Lucille, he hated waiting. He wondered how many seconds it would be until the video came on. One thousand, two thousand, three thousand…

two hundred and seven thousand. That was 3 minutes and 27 seconds. The mayor walked onstage and turned the video on. The mayor was followed by the escort, Hadrian Loren. The mentors, Akilah Turner and Trace Keys, were also on the stage.

The video lasted about ten minutes (Teddy wasn't counting this time). Once the video was over, Hadrian walked up to the microphone.

"May I have the male volunteer?" he asked.

Teddy raised his hand. Hadrian pointed to him.

"You! Come on up!" Teddy walked up to the stage. Once he got to the stage, Hadrian handed him the microphone and asked him something.

"Huh?" said Teddy.

"What's your name?" Hadrian repeated.

"Ummm… Teddy - Theodore Didjitt. Theodore Didjitt. Yeah, that's it. I think. I'm going to stop talking now. Bye?" Teddy answered.

Oops. How had he messed up saying his name? He was not good in crowds. Very bad in crowds. Very very very very very bad in crowds.

**Rebecca "Sky" Skyler, 15**

Seventeen minutes and twenty seconds. Seventeen minutes and twenty-one seconds. Seventeen minutes and -

Someone was knocking on her door. Sky stopped running in place and opened the bedroom door. It was her dad, Kendrick.

"Morning, Becca! Time for breakfast!" said her dad.

"I'll be down as soon as I'm ready." Sky said. Her dad left the room. She ran a comb through her hair. Then, she got a thick, bright blue rubber band to use as her token, and pulled her hair into a ponytail with it.

Sky opened her closet. Where was her Reaping dress? She saw her winter coat, and her school uniform, but no Reaping dress. She looked towards the back of her closet. There it was. It probably got stuffed back there since she only wore it once a year.

She put her dress on. It came to above her knees now… she had shot up from 5'5" to 5'8" in the last year. Sky grabbed a pair of socks and put them on. Once she was dressed, she went downstairs for breakfast.

Her dad, her baby brother, Will, and her mom, Viola, were all eating breakfast. Sky sat down next to Will's highchair. "Hi Will! It's your big sister Sky! How's your baby food this morning?" Sky said. Will giggled (he was only one, he couldn't say many words).

She turned to her own plate. Her dad had given her a bagel and some grapes. Sky ate her breakfast and got up from the table. "Hey guys, I'm leaving now." she said.

"Bye, see you once you volunteer." said her mom. "Okay Becca!" said her dad.

Sky was meeting up with Katherine (Kate) and Suzy at Suzy's house (it was closest to the Reaping Centre). She walked the couple blocks between their two houses. Once she got there, she knocked on her friend's door.

Suzy opened the door. "Hey Sky!"

"Hey Suzy! Is Kate here yet?" Sky asked.

"Yeah, she just had to use the bathroom. She's coming out right now." replied Suzy.

Kate walked out the front door. "Sky! You're here!"

"Yep! Are you two ready to go or not?" Sky replied.

"We're ready!" said Suzy. The three girls started walking to the Reaping Centre. It wasn't far from Suzy's house, so they got there in just a few minutes. Kate was already sixteen, so she headed off to the audience section while Sky and Suzy got in line.

The girls had arrived pretty early, so it didn't take long for them to check in. However, it meant they had to spend a long time standing in the fifteen-year-old girls section waiting for it to be 10:30.

"Why is this taking so long?" Sky complained.

"Not everyone gets to places early, Sky." Suzy said. Sky fidgeted with her hair. She just wanted to volunteer already!

Sky had been planning to volunteer since she was ten years old. She had been up late studying for a math test, when she overheard her parents talking. They had been talking about some boy named Brian. Sky had never known anybody named Brian.

The next day, she demanded to know what they had been talking about. It turned out that she had an older brother who died just a couple days after she was born. She always knew she had been born during the 234th Hunger Games - she was barely eligible for these, as she'd turn sixteen in a week. But she had never been told that she had a brother who died in them. Since then, she had known she was going to volunteer to avenge her older brother.

After about fifteen minutes of standing there, it was finally time for the video to come on. Sky didn't pay attention to the video, it was boring. Instead, she tried to spot her baby brother in the crowd. She couldn't find him (probably because he was so small). She did find Kate, and waved to her.

The video finally ended, and their escort, Hadrian Loren, asked for the male volunteer. Some boy she didn't know went up. He was very awkward. Once he was done being awkward, Hadrian took the microphone back.

"May I please have the female volunteer?" he asked. Sky raised her hand.

"Blonde-hair girl! Up to the stage, please!" Hadrian said, pointing at her. Sky walked up to the stage.

"What's your name?" asked Hadrian, handing her the microphone.

"I'm Rebecca Skyler, but you can call me Sky." she said.

**Theodore "Teddy" Didjitt, 13**

After Rebecca said her name, she stuck out her hand. Teddy stared at it for a couple seconds before realizing.

"Oops. Sorry, I'm supposed to shake your hand." Teddy shook her hand. Afterwards, a Peacekeeper led him to a room in the back of the building. Teddy sat in there and waited. Then, his parents, Lucille, and Demi all came in. His mom was the first to come over to him. She bent down and hugged him.

"Teddy! I love you! I don't want you to leave! Be careful! Come back, okay!" Diana cried.

"Okay, Mom. I love you." Teddy said. His dad came over next.

"Be careful, Teddy. Don't do anything stupid. I love you. Don't die or you're grounded." said Lukas.

"Got it, Dad. Love you too." he replied. Lucille walked over to him.

"Bye Teddy! If you don't come back, I'm taking your stuff!" she said.

"Sure, Lucille. Bye." Teddy responded. Lucille hugged Teddy and left the room. Demi was the last to come talk to him.

"You got this, Teddy. Besides, if you die, I won't have anyone to do my biology homework for me!" Demi told him.

"Thanks, Demi. But really, you do need to start doing your own biology homework." Teddy said.

"I got you a token." said Demi. She pulled a small eraser shaped like a model of an atom out of her pocket. "They had a bunch of them in science class."

He took the eraser and put it in his pocket. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." replied Demi. She left the room.

Teddy sat back down in the chair and looked up at the ceiling. One tile, two tiles, three tiles...

**Rebecca "Sky" Skyler, 15**

Sky shook hands with the boy and followed the Peacekeeper to one of the rooms in the back. She sat down in a chair. A few minutes later, her family, Kate, and Suzy came in. Kate and Suzy both ran up to her.

"Sky! You'll do great!" exclaimed Kate.

"Yeah, of course you will!" Suzy added.

"Thanks, you two! Bye!" Sky said.

"Bye!" said the other two girls. After they left, her parents and Will came over.

"Be careful, Rebecca. I mean it." said her mom.

"Yes, mom." said Sky. Her dad put Will on her lap.

"Say bye-bye, Will." said her dad.

"Baba!" said Will. Sky hugged her little brother and handed him back to her dad.

"Bye, dad." Sky said.

"Bye, Becca." he replied. Her family then left the visiting room.

Sky was ready. Now, was everyone else?

**A/N: **What did you think of those two? Predictions? Who did you like better? Thanks to ASimpleMind94 for Teddy and WildxPaws for Sky.


End file.
